Newegg loses patent infringement case

Newegg, an online retailer, has had a history of standing tall in the face of patent trolls. But the company has lost its most recent battle with a non-practicing entity, as it has been ordered to pay $2.3 million to TQP Development.

An eight-member jury has determined that Newegg infringed on four claims of a patent owned by TQP. More importantly, it found that the patent was indeed valid, rejecting arguments that the patent in question did not cover any sufficiently unique technology.

In the past, TQP has managed to wring over $45 million in patent licensing fees from 139 companies by reaching settlements with them. The patent in question covers Internet security encryption used by online retailers such as Newegg.

The jury reached a verdict quickly, taking less then three hours to deliberate. The $2.3 million figure was less than half of the $5.1 million that TQP had been seeking.

This is far from the first NPE case that Newegg has opted to take to court rather than settle. It won a case earlier this year against Soverain, a company that claimed patent rights on various “shopping cart” technologies. Originally, a judge ordered Newegg to pay $2.5 million to Soverain (far less than the $34 million the company had been seeking), but the online retailer scored a victory on appeal.